


Pajama Party Time! Spooky Edition

by SketchWitch



Series: I Love You (When I'm Drunk) [4]
Category: Rune Factory 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27074917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SketchWitch/pseuds/SketchWitch
Summary: An alternate take on unlocking Dolce.
Series: I Love You (When I'm Drunk) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938067
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. Episode 1

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt fill for the RF writers' Discord! Lots of spooky themes this time. :D  
> You can find us here: https://discord.gg/GcKrFqd

“Frey! Hey, I was just looking for you!” Margaret greeted. Frey smiled and waved.

“Hey, Meg! What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to gather up the girls for a sleepover at my place,” Margaret offered. “You in?” Frey nodded. “Great!” Margaret clapped her hands together. “You can stop by around 19:00 tomorrow. You should wear pajamas, too, if you have some! It’ll really give it a pajama party feel, you know?”

Frey grinned. “I’ll be there,” she replied, and the two ladies parted ways. Frey went about her days as usual, watering her various crops in her fields at the palace and the summery area just outside the city walls. There were various visitors to Selphia asking after her, as well, but she counted it among her duties as stand-in Princess that she would need to give them whatever audience and direction they asked of her.

Venti was also starting to get tired, but somehow also restless. It seemed like something was bothering her, but she refused to open up about it to Frey. The evening of the sleepover, Frey pouted, telling Venti to shout if she needed anything from her, even if it meant late-night pancakes. Venti just shooed her off, saying they’d have plenty of time the next day and that Frey really should spend time with her other friends in town. Reluctantly, Frey agreed, and gathered her nightdress to change into while at Margaret’s house and some corn they could pop during their gathering, following dinner.

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to it, much as she worried over the resident Dragon God. The new girl in town who she’d rescued from the forest--Amber--was abundantly cheerful, and her enthusiasm had rubbed off on all the other girls. Clorica and Meg both thought she was adorable, and doted on her as though she were their younger sister. She fit in well with Xiao Pai, and even Forte’s suspicions had abated after she’d been there for some time. Illuminata’s investigation into her history had proved fruitless, but Amber’s presence in Carnations’ Flower Shop became indispensable quite rapidly, and Illuminata was proud to have her as an assistant. It was the first time the six of them would be gathering for an overnight, so they all frequently reminded each other throughout the day when they would be going over to Meg’s house.

Frey arrived fashionably late, but before most of the guests had arrived. Clorica still had to finish a few tasks at the castle, and Forte and Xiao would arrive later, as they each lived across town from Meg. Frey helped Meg prepare their food--Fried Veggies for the evening, since Amber didn’t like fish--while Amber made juice for everyone. Clorica was the next to arrive, saying she brought some party games for all of them to play, and Forte was a few minutes behind, with a dessert made by Kiel. Xiao was last to stumble in, but she had some dumplings her mother made so they could enjoy them while they stayed up late chatting. Conversation flowed rather easily once everyone was there, and topics wove into and out of each other.   
  
“Oh, speaking of scary stories,” Clorica interjected. “I thought it’d be interesting to try using a Ouija board!” Amber, Xiao Pai, and Frey all perked up.

“Is that the one where we try to talk to ghosts?” Amber asked.

“I’ve heard of those! One time, a guest was telling stories of one he used once. The tales were very thrilling, yes!” Xiao Pai described.

Curiously, Frey asked, “Why, do things usually happen when people use those?” Forte started shaking.

“Of course not,” she dismissed. “Ghosts do not exist.” She grasped for a sword she had long since put away, on instinct.

“Maaaaaybe we shouldn’t...” Meg suggested, but Amber began pleading with her.

“Awww, c’mon! It’ll be a fun experiment!” she begged, pulling off an incredibly effective pout.

“A-alright,” Meg relented. “But we’re stopping if anything weird starts happening!” Xiao, Amber, Clorica, and Frey cheered, and Clorica started setting up the board in the middle of their circle.

“So, how does this work, exactly?” Frey asked.

“Well, we’re supposed to all be touching this triangle thing here,” Clorica indicated the planchette, “and ask questions. We let it move to spell out the answers to whatever it is we ask!” Frey nodded. The process sounded simple enough. She placed a hand on the planchette, as the other girls did the same.

“What should we ask first?” Amber chirped.

“We’re first having to make sure someone is there, yes?” Xiao replied.

“So… is anyone here to speak to us…?” Frey ventured. Then, the planchette started slowly moving, eventually halting over the word ‘yes’. The girls all gasped, Forte and Meg fidgeting nervously. The planchette started moving again. Clorica recited the letters as they were spelled out.

“H.. E.. L.. P.. M.. E..” she spelled slowly. Meg started squealing in fright, but Clorica shushed her. “They’re still spelling!” she insisted. “F.. R.. E.. Y..” The rest of the girls sent nervous glances toward their stand-in Princess. “F.. R.. E.. E.. D.. O.. L.. L.. Y.. I wonder what that means?” 

“Maybe it’s someone like Amber or Dylas?” Frey guessed. The planchette moved toward ‘yes’ again, and Forte sighed with relief.

“So, it’s not a ghost,” Forte summarized. “This ‘Dolly’ must be contacting us asking for help.” The planchette moved toward ‘no’, and Forte started shaking again.

Frey, however, still wanted to help. “Of course I’ll help,” she answered. “If it’s the same case as Amber and Dylas, I’ll do everything I can!”

Clorica continued spelling, “M.. E.. E.. T.. M.. E.. A.. T.. T.. H.. E.. M.. A.. N.. S.. I.. O.. N.”

“What mansion?” Amber asked.

“There’s one on Autumn Road,” Meg suggested. “But that place is suuuuuuper-creepy.”

“It has so many rumors about it, yes?” Xiao Pai added.

“I see…” Frey drawled. “I’ll check it out tomorrow, I guess. For now, it’s probably time to get some sleep.” The rest of the girls agreed, and they broke their circle to spread out across the floor. They bid each other goodnight, and Frey was out as soon as her head hit her pillow.


	2. Episode 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The resolution of Episode 1 and arrival of Dolce!

Stretching, Frey awoke early the next morning, and rubbed her eyes as the rest of her friends stirred. She prepared a breakfast of leftover fruit from the previous night and helped Margaret tidy up a bit while everyone exchanged casual conversation as they prepared to face the day.

“It seems this was fun, yes?” Xiao Pai commented.

“Yeah!” Margaret agreed. “I’ll let you all know if a good time comes up for another one.”

And they all filed out the door, Frey and Forte among the last, as they both had to don armor. As Frey ambled back to the castle to care for her crops, she was followed by a constant, quiet rustling of the shrubs inhabiting nearly every block of Selphia. She tended to her fields, frequently looking over her shoulder, unable to shake the feeling she was being watched. However, she never quite saw anything other than a shadow in the corner of her eye that flitted away once she looked. Shrugging it off, she completed her tasks in town for the morning and geared up so she could check out the Obsidian Mansion, as she said she would the previous night.

As she left Selphia’s gate, she heard a voice.

“You… are Frey?” the voice asked. It sounded like a young girl. Frey wasn’t quite sure she wanted to answer. She looked around wildly to find the source of the voice, but there was no one around who could have spoken that clearly to her. She turned forward again, and there she was: a small girl, dressed up in jester garb, about half Frey’s height. The girl spoke. “You’ve  _ got _ to come help Dolly!” she insisted. “Follow me!”

The girl flew away quickly, pausing several feet away to wave back at Frey and show her where she needed to go. Frey rushed after the small girl. Autumn Road wasn’t far, and the mansion was only a short way down. The gate, however, took some time to get to, as the mansion hosted a rather large property with a long wrought-iron fence. The outer courtyard was dark, unkempt, and overgrown. No one had tended to the area in a while, and Frey would have itched to work the land, if not for the barrenness of the surrounding trees and the way the sky darkened over the mansion, specifically, as though there were reason for light not to hit any surface on the property. She approached the door as quickly and quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb the place.

She gulped, and entered.

The monsters, in spite of their sickles and ghostly demeanors, were much less terrifying than the ordeal she had in following the small girl. It seemed that she could move through walls, but what did that make her, exactly? She didn’t seem to be a monster, but she also didn’t seem to be human, or quite… living. Frey suppressed a shudder at the thought, and made her way through the different sections of the mansion, fighting monsters as she found them and dispelling the gates that summoned them. Where was this ‘Dolly’ the ghostlike girl referred to?

After what seemed an eternity cutting her way through ghost monsters, panthers, spiders, and slime beasts, Frey reached a hallway with the girl at the other end. “Just through here!” she called, and disappeared beyond the closed door, leaving Frey to rush behind again.

(But not before she had to defeat a rather large monster apparently called a Ghost Ray).

What lay beyond the door somewhat confused Frey. It was a rather large ballroom, complete with a banquet area and a small stage with a red curtain. Frey wandered in, taking in the details of the environment. The girl was in the middle of the tables, and she pointed to center stage.

“She’s up there! Please, free Dolly!!” she begged, and she faded into the shadows. There were no clues in the rest of the house as to who Dolly was, so Frey assumed that there was a doll caught in the rafters or the catwalk in the rigging for the curtain.

She was wrong, of course, but she found support for her other hypothesis as to who ‘Dolly’ was.

A puppet-like monster dropped from the ceiling, onto the stage, with an explosion of stuffed plush monsters. Freeing Dolly, it seemed, would be trial by combat. At least Frey packed some healing potions and snacks.

When the monster finally collapsed in defeat and returned to the Forest of Beginnings, a girl was left in its wake. The ghost-girl rushed in to drag her away before Frey could even get a good look in, as to who she had freed from the monster state she’d been in previously. It certainly provoked more questions than answers in Frey: why were there people who had been monsters, and how many more were there? She would ask Venti about it, but the dragon had been so tired recently, and sleeping more often. She had no opportunity.

There was a door leading out the way that the ghost had dragged the girl away, so Frey made her escape through that route, only to find that the door led to Dragon Lake. Volkanon fixed a bridge there conveniently, apparently as a request from Venti.

Curious, Frey walked back to the main hall of the castle, only to hear the ghost girl arguing with Venti. Venti was… erasing her memories? What was all this about? Still, Frey couldn’t just barge into their conversation, so she waited outside. ‘Dolly’ didn’t need to be brought to the clinic, it seemed, as she was able to wake and leave the castle. Frey perked up a bit when she heard the footsteps reaching the castle entrance.

“I was told you saved me,” the girl said. “Though, I don’t remember what from.” She looked down and away, refusing to make eye contact. “I’m Dolce, and this annoying pervert,” she referred to the ghost girl, who peeked out from behind her, “is Pico. Thanks, I guess.”

Nancy rushed in, saying she’d heard about a new girl being brought in, who was in a similar situation to Amber. She declared that Dolce and Pico would be staying with her and Jones. Dolce, however flustered she may have been at this development, apparently was given no choice in the matter, but it was for the best. She had nowhere else to go, after all, and her condition would need to be monitored closely for the time being, since she supposedly also had ‘mysteriously lost her memory’. Frey turned away from the commotion and looked toward the castle.

Venti had a lot of explaining to do.


End file.
